Related Articles:

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 8

(8)
Anonymous,
July 28, 2017 1:02 AM

The video was just what I needed to hear at this time. Thanks

The video was just what I needed to hear at this time. Thanks

(7)
Sharon Primack,
February 22, 2017 7:34 AM

Thank u

Thank u Aish so so much for putting up this very emotional and inspiarational video!

(6)
Ron C,
February 20, 2017 2:32 AM

Amazing story!

What a beautiful story! It's no coincidence how these two mothers met.

(5)
Anonymous,
February 19, 2017 6:09 PM

Lately I've been signing up for a number of Jewish newsletters that I have been hoping could reignite a yiddishe spark in me.

For anyone (regardless of your religious beliefs) struggling through difficult challenges, this heartfelt true story will hit a soft spot.

You've never seen a short grown man shed more salty tears then what you would find in the deep Red Sea.

I wish someone could give a hug to the mom from me.

P.S. For anyone wondering, a flicker has been miraculously illuminated in me, even through the river of emotions.

P.P.S. I went ahead and shared this touching story on Facebook.

(4)
Dvora Waysman,
February 19, 2017 3:14 PM

I am the author of 14 books, all with a Jewish theme

A most beautiful video. It made me cry & strengthened mybelief in HaShem. I lost my brother who was 21 in World War 2 and many times I have felt that he is like a guardian angel watching over me. I was the least likely woman to finish up in Eretz Israel - never Zionistic; but G-d brought me here for a purpose, & 45 years later I have 18 grandchildren & 16 great-grandchildren all living in Israel. I am blessed.

(3)
Dvora,
February 19, 2017 1:54 PM

Dvir

Heart warming story. I am happy for BOTH Mothers. Amazing true story. I donate my time to work with terminal children and or adults. Like Dvir's Mother, I too lost a son, only at 5 1/2 months. It took me years to stop grieving. One child I worked with, was 5 years old. Born without a left valve to his heart. I thought he was 18 months old when he began speaking to me. His Mother said, no, he just turned 5. His surgery was in July of the following year, 3 attempts to repair the valve failed and THIS was his last hope. His Mother said her husband told her to "let him go". He was NOT supportive at all. So, I called the Children's Hospital where the surgery was going to take place. I stayed all day before surgery with this little boy and his Mother. I took him a stuffed Tiger and told Nicholas that this Tiger had a heart problem and he too was having surgery, same as him. I asked Nicholas to promise me he would help the Tiger get through this event as Nicholas was a pro and had been through it several times. He promised. I went the day of the surgery so Mom had known support with her. I told her THIS surgery would e a success. When Nicholas came to, the Tiger was bandaged just like him. He went for it immediately. Nursing it back to health. Not one complaint of pain from this little boy he was very busy with his Tiger, Tuff stuff. 2 years later, I was on a bus after doing my banking when a little boy, armed with a now lived in Tiger ran up the aisle calling Dvora! He looked to be between 8 and 10 yrs old. He hugged me like he would never let go. It was Nicholas! Surgery was successful as I said and what a joyful reunion between us. In that moment, my Joshua returned to me. A hug from heaven.

(2)
Rebecca,
February 19, 2017 1:21 PM

Wow!

What an extraordinary story. Miracles are constantly happening around us. May Hashem continue to give Dvir's mother much Chizuk in her life.

About the Author

As an ordained Rabbi who is dedicated to serving the Los Angeles community and renowned for his impactful sermons and popular lectures, Rabbi Yoel Gold currently serves as Rabbi of Congregation Beis Naftali. The organization, which comprises Holocaust survivors and modern American professionals, also provides charitable services throughout Southern California to people in need of food, clothing and shelter.

In addition, Rabbi Gold is a ninth-grade Rebbe with Mesivta Birkas Yitzchok (MBY), a boys’ yeshiva high school catering to the strictly observant Jewish Community, whose educational emphasis is to produce students steeped in Torah learning and yiras shamayim.

Rabbi Gold is also a sought-after motivational speaker throughout Southern California, sharing his love for life and passion for the torah. His contagious inspirational messages have inspired countless audiences, including Jew in the City, Chayenu, such universities as UCLA, Manchester and Leeds, and companies like BCBG Max Azria.

He was previously appointed as the fulltime Rav of Aish Manchester in England, and has led a trip to Poland, where Rabbi Gold taught and inspired youth about past generations and orthodox heritage.

I always loved the story of Jonah and the whale. Why do we read it during the afternoon service of Yom Kippur?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Let's recap the story: God tells Jonah to go to Ninveh and to prophesy that in 40 days, God will destroy the city. Instead, Jonah goes to Jaffa, boards a ship, and sails for Tarshish. A great storm arises. Frightened, Jonah goes to sleep in the ship's hold. The sailors somehow recognize that Jonah is responsible for the storm. They throw him overboard, and the sea becomes calm.

A great fish swallows Jonah. Then three days later, God commands the fish to spit Jonah back out upon dry land. God tells Jonah, "Let's try it again. Go to Ninveh and tell them in 40 days I will destroy the city."

The story is a metaphor for our struggle for clarity. Jonah is the soul. The soul is assigned to sanctify the world, and draw it close to God. But we are seduced by the world's beauty. (Jaffa in Hebrew means "beauty.") The ship is the body, the sea is the world, and the storm is life's pains and troubles. God hopes confrontation with mortality will inspire us to examine our lives. But Jonah's is the more common response - we go to sleep (have a beer, turn on the television). The sailors throw Jonah overboard - this is death. The fish that swallows Jonah is the grave. Jonah is spat back upon the land - reincarnation. And the Almighty tells us to try again. "Go sanctify the world and bring it close to God."

Each of us is born with an opportunity and a challenge. We each have unique gifts to offer the world and unique challenges to perfect ourselves. If we leave the task unfinished the first time, we get a second chance. Jonah teaches us that repentance can reverse a harsh decree. If the residents of Ninveh had the ability to correct their mistakes and do teshuva, how much more so do we have the ability to correct our former mistakes and do teshuva.

(source: "The Bible for the Clueless But Curious," by Rabbi Nachum Braverman)

In 1948, Egypt launched a large-scale offensive against the Negev region of Israel. This was part of the War of Independence, an attack by five Arab armies designed to "drive the Jews into the sea." Though the Jews were under-armed, untrained, and few in number, through ingenuity and perseverance they staved off the attacks and secured the borders. Yet the price was high -- Israel lost 6,373 of its people, a full one percent of the Jewish population of Israel at the time.

And what does teshuvah consist of? [Repentance to the degree] that the One Who knows all that is hidden will testify that he will never again repeat this sin(Maimonides, Laws of Teshuvah 2:2).

"How can this be?" ask the commentaries. "Inasmuch as man always has free choice to do good or evil, to sin or not to sin, how can God testify that a person will never repeat a particular sin? Is this not a repudiation of one's free will?"

The answer to this came to me at a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, at which the speaker, a man who had been sober for twenty-one years, said, "The man I was drank. The man I was will drink again. But now I am a different man."

A sin does not occur in a vacuum. A person who is devout does not abruptly decide to eat treifah. A sin occurs when a person is in such a state that a particular act is not anathema to him.

Consequently, repentance is not complete if one merely regrets having done wrong. One must ask, "How did this sin ever come about? In what kind of a state was I that permitted me to commit this sin?"

True repentance thus consists of changing one's character to the point where, as the person is now, one can no longer even consider doing the forbidden act. Of course, the person's character may deteriorate - and if it does, he may sin again.

God does not testify that the person will never repeat the sin, but rather that his degree of repentance and correction of his character defects are such that, as long as he maintains his new status, he will not commit that sin.

Today I shall...

try to understand how I came to do those things that I regret having done, and bring myself to a state where such acts will be alien to me.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...